Back-to-back nights of basketball on Buck92.3 meant madness, as on Wednesday the Beal City Boys matched the drama that we had Tuesday Night in Mount Pleasant.
It was Senior Night for the Aggies Boys, as four seniors Kyle Martin, Cole Tilmann, Owen McKenny and Austin Small were honored pregame for their basketball careers at Beal City!
And to add more stakes to this game, Austin Small came into the contest just 23 points away from reaching the 1000 point club for his career – a feat that only 6 athletes have achieved in school history.
The 15-5 (12-2 Highland) Aggies were set to face the 4-16 Manton Rangers, a team they had beaten by 20 earlier this season. Beal City is ranked 18th in the state in Class C according to MHSAA.com, but Manton came to play spoiler.
From the jump the Rangers had a different energy, getting out in the fastbreak and hustling hard to develop a solid lead – leading 14-9 after one.
The Aggies couldn’t get a shot to fall from behind the arc, and Small finished the first with just 2 points. Manton would really extend a lead in the 2nd quarter, leading 26-9 with just over three minutes left in the first half.
Sophomore Cuyler Smith gave Beal a spark however, knocking down some free throws as well as a tough finish in the paint. This was followed by Austin Small drilling the Aggies first triple of the game with 90 seconds to go in the half.
Small would hit a few free throws and a mid-range jumper before the halftime horn to finish with 11 – just twelve points away from scoring 1000. Despite this, Manton still led 32-22 at the break.
Beal City would enter the 3rd with a different energy, as the buzz in the building rose as well. Jumpers from Owen McKenny and Drake Gatrell got the Aggies down by just 5, 34-29 a couple minutes into the third. Austin Small hit another three halfway through the quarter to keep the deficit to 5, as he was just 7 away from 1k.
Manton would not let the Aggies comeback this easy however, as scores from Kaleb Musselman, Reece Traxler & Jackson Schab extended the Rangers lead back to 12.
Beal City continued to get hot behind the arc, as Cuyler Smith hit one – and Austin Small added two more triples before the end of the quarter as he hit the 4th just one point away from the 4-digit club. Aggies trailed 47-41 headed to the final 8.
The energy was at its peak in the Beal City gym as the 4th started, and Manton had one goal – don’t let Austin Small score. The Rangers came out in a box-and-one style defense to defend Small, and it led to a couple easy Aggie layups to open the quarter as Beal trailed by just two a minute into the 4th.
Manton led by 6 with just three minutes to go, before the Aggies defense turned it on to create buckets. A Garrison Zuker fastbreak lay made it a 4 point game.
And with 2:20 to go in the 4th, history was made:
Small’s stepback three on the left wing gave him 25 on the game – and entered him into an elite club in Beal City History – becoming the 7th Aggie to score 1k, alongside Todd Schafer, Brian O’Neil, Stone Beckwith, Logan Chilman, Emily Fussman & Sydney Beckwith.
A big shoutout to Athletic Director Chadd Fletcher for having a nice moment to honor Austin after hitting this shot, and the gym was now rocking for the final 2 minutes. Aggies still trailed by 1.
Garrison Zuker splashed a three as soon as we got back into play – and the Aggies led for the first time since it was 2-0.
The Aggies would close it out with timely scores and free throws and complete the dramatic comeback victory 62-58 over Manton.
Despite being double-teamed and face-guarded nearly the entire second half, our JNR Engraving Player of the Game went to 1000-point scorer Austin Small – who finished with 27 on the game.
We caught up with Austin after the game and here’s what he had to say about hitting the big shot:
Garrison Zuker added in 10 for the Aggies, and Owen McKenny finished with 9.
Manton was led by Reece Traxler who finished with 17.
The Aggies advanced to 16-5 on the season, 13-2 in the Highland Conference, and will close out their season tonight at home against the 17-4 Pine River Bucks. Beal City will then head to Beaverton next week to compete in Districts.
Our Local High School Coverage continues on Tuesday the 25th, with Senior Night for the Oilers Girls as they host Cadillac.
Kyle Sandel – Buck92 Sports Director
